


Dawning of a Sun

by Pearl84 (Pearlmuse84)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Danny Phantom Ghost King/Prince, Angst, F/M, Fantasy, I guess you can be surprised by the rest, Romance, Violence, dark themes, minor sexual adult content, underage torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29086719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlmuse84/pseuds/Pearl84
Summary: A twist in destiny makes the month old Danny Fenton half-ghost and places him in the hands of the Ghost King, Plasmius. Stuck in between a human and ghost war, will this young prince find his true self? And most importantly, who will he fight for?
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters, Danny Fenton/Sam Manson, Danny Phantom/Ember McLain, Gregor/Sam Manson, Vlad Masters/Desiree
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Many of you might know me from Fanfiction where all of my works are; and have been for years! However, I continue to be asked by readers to post my stories here, too, since some cannot access fanfiction. So, here I am! I decided to start with Dawning of the Sun since it is currently my only in-progress story. But I have some friends who are going to help me transfer the rest of my stories, if anyone is interested on reading my completed works. I am a HUGE Vlad and Danny Father x Son relationship fan; so you will see most of my stories center on that. So, if you life angst and fluff between these two, you come to the right place. Hope you enjoy the story! Ta for now!

The pale, quarter moon shined dazzlingly in the darkened sky of Amity Park. Not even the light from the stars combined, on this particular night, could over come its glow. Although the moonlight seemed to caress the entire town below -so much that the bodies of water present had become sparkling mirrors- its brightest wave of light looked down upon a particular house. More specifically upon a single window, located on the small two-story home. The beam penetrated through the glass and splashed the room within, providing sufficient light for a young mother to see the child in her arms; but the kiss of moonlight was also soft enough to lull the restless baby into tranquility.

The mother softly hummed to her one-month-old son in an attempt to get him to close his sapphire eyes that were currently dimmed with tiredness. She had opened the curtains to allow the moonlight to enter the room, since doing so always managed to relax her child. Now, her battle was to get him to give into his fatigue, and sleep. She gently stroked his soft, black hair, while rocking him slowly, her actions rewarded with quiet coos.

"You're so stubborn, Danny. I can see you're tired, so why don't you sleep?" she said gently, a soft and amused expression on her face.

"Maddie?"

The twenty-seven-year-old woman turned towards the voice, a quizzical look appearing on her face at seeing her husband's sober expression.

"What is it, Jack?" she asked softly, not wanting to compromise the battle she was slowly winning against her infant.

The man sighed quietly, before smiling down at his son and lightly caressing his cheek. "The Guys in White are downstairs" he answered, moving his blue eyes to his wife.

Maddie's demeanor immediately hardened. "Why are they here? We told-"

Danny whined in protest, clearly feeling his mom's agitation. Outwardly, the brown-haired woman quickly calmed for the sake of her child, but her anger continued to burn fiercely in her eyes. "They are not supposed to be here until the end of the week," she said seriously.

Jack walked over to a drawer and opened it. "I know, Maddie, but they insist we had enough time and that it's urgent they get the finished project," he replied with soberness, walking back to his wife and child, before offering Danny a pacifier.

Maddie sighed in resignation, her amethyst eyes falling to her son, who had moved a bit and was currently sucking lethargically on the pacifier. "It's not finished, Jack. There are still tests and calculations to be done. We have to make sure it's calibrated to avoid any instability. There's no telling what that thing could do if it's started without being properly checked first."

"You're right, Mads, but I really think it'll work!" he whispered excitedly, "Maddie, we'll finally gain access, we'll finally be able to end all this chaos caused by those…things! That device is humanity's secret weapon… We gotta finish it."

Maddie remained silent. Clearly, she didn't share her husband's enthusiasm. "Alright, let me put Danny down and I'll be right down," she said calmly.

Jack nodded his agreement. He then gave his sleeping son a kiss on his tiny hand, before kissing his wife on the cheek. "Don't worry about Jazz. She's fast asleep," he informed her, before walking out.

At hearing the door softly close, Maddie exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry you have to be in the middle of all this, sweetie, but your daddy and I are going to do everything possible to make everything better…. _I just hope **this** is what's better,"_ she added mentally with a worried frowned.

The brown-haired woman carefully put her baby down and covered him with his space-rocket-printed blanket. Giving him one last smile, she moved away and quietly exited the room.

Maddie walked downstairs, her expression quickly changing into sobriety at the sight of six men standing at the entranceway below. All of them were dressed in white suits, accented by dark sunglasses. The woman's gaze, however, was specifically locked onto one of these men, the one standing in front of the other five. He was clearly the one in charge.

"I want to know why you feel you have the right to barge into my house, especially in the middle of the night," Maddie demanded angrily.

The slim and muscular, blond-haired man removed his glasses and gave her a calm, almost bored, look. Clearly, he was unfazed by her glare. "You are working on a very important device, Mrs. Fenton. A device that I need not remind you is being funded by the government for you and your husband to develop. So, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the deadline for this project in a year's time? You are four months overdue."

"You're right, Mr. Chrome, and we're sorry for falling behind schedule, but you gotta understand, my wife recently gave birth to our second kid and well… it has taken some time away from us," Jack explained.

"Congratulations," Mr. Chrome replied, although it was obvious he did not mean it. "But you'll have to forgive me if I don't sympathize with your situation. Your main priority should be finishing that project. It has been ten years since those creatures sealed all entry into their territory and just as long that they have remained inactive. Whatever they have been planning during all this time is serous. Our entire existence depends on us striking before they do and that isn't possible without a way to get to them! You're worried about your children, Mrs. Fenton? Then give us what we ask, because until then, not only are your own children at risk, but everyone else's," the man assured.

Maddie slowly nodded in agreement. "It is almost finished. We just need to run a few tests before attempting to activate it."

"I would like to see it," Mr. Chrome replied, his cold, green eyes clearly showing that wasn't a request but an order.

The couple shared a silent look before Jack pointed and responded, "It's this way." The six men silently followed the two young parents down a hallway. They passed the house's kitchen located on their left before soon finding a door to the right.

Jack turned the handle and walked down a small set of metallic stairs, leading them inside a large laboratory. Among other things, the place contained a computer mainframe, lab tables with strange devices or beakers of chemicals on them, and… the so-called project.

The married couple stopped at the far end of the lab and turned towards the men. "This is it," the woman said, pointing to a large device behind her.

Passed half-opened steel doors, a long, somewhat circular entryway could be seen. It looked cold and dark, and like the doors that contained it, the wire and circuitry-filled tunnel was also made of thick steel.

The man approached the eerie machine and studied it intently before turning to the couple. "Activate it."

"No," Maddie said right away, earning her a frown from Mr. Chrome. "It has not been properly tested and I will not risk the safety of my children."

The man approached her with an icy look. "You don't seem to understand the fact that we are at war. This invention is what will finally break this ten-year stalemate. We need that doorway into the Ghost Zone! Plagues can only be eradicated from the source!"

"Mr. Chrome, no one wants the Ghost Portal to work more than me, but not at the cost of something happening to my wife and kids," Jack intervened, "How bout giving us a day? We'll have it ready for activation tomorrow afternoon."

Mr. Chrome remained silent, while glancing at the device. "Is the sample of concentrated ectoplasm enough?"

"Yes, we believe so," Maddie replied, heading to the right of the metal doors. She quickly typed a number sequence on a square, metallic control panel. A beep and hiss followed her actions, before she carefully grabbed a cylindrical glass tube from its holding place at the side of the control panel. The glass tube glowed with its swirling thick green fluid.

The leader of the Guys in White accepted the glass tube from the woman with surprising care. "It took a great deal of effort to obtain this sample," he said, studying the hot liquid within and seeing how sparks of electricity shot from it which was clearly being contained by its thick glass case. "If it is lost, it will take years to obtain another batch, especially now that the enemy has not set foot on our world for so long…. You do understand what I'm saying, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" he asked, his green eyes going back to the couple.

"It will work," Maddie assured in an icy voice.

Mr. Chrome handed the object back to the young woman before turning, and exiting the lab; his men following suit. "Have it ready by tomorrow," the mid-thirty-year-old man ordered.

The two young parents followed the six men out and walked them to the door. "One more thing," Mr. Chrome stated, turning to face them. "As the world's leading ghost experts you will be required to aid the government through this war in _any_ way we need, understood?"

"Don't forget we are on the same side, Mr. Chrome. We've helped your ghost-hunting division since we started our research and will continue to do that in any way necessary until we get rid of the ghost race," Jack answered with a serious frown.

The man gave him a tight smile in return and answered, "Good, I'm glad to hear The Guys in White have your full cooperation. Until tomorrow, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Rest assured that the portal _will_ be activated then, regardless of whether or not you believe it is ready."

The couple said nothing as they watched the men leave. Jack soon closed the door and turning to his wife, clearly saw her furious expression.

"If I didn't feel his fowl breathe on me, I would say that man is one of those evil creatures from how heartless he is," Maddie stated angrily.

"Don't worry about him, Maddie. Let's just finish the portal. Just think of all the things we can discover. Who knows? Maybe we'll finally find a weakness," Jack beamed.

Maddie headed to a nearby living room and sat on a sofa. She leaned forward and rested her face in her hands, a tired sigh escaping her lips. "Jack, we had access to the Ghost Zone during Dark's rule. What makes you think that this time it will be any different? This battle has been going on longer then you and I have been alive.… I don't know, Jack, something's strange in all this. Ever since this new ghost king appeared, things have calmed down…. Maybe they finally decided to give up; maybe there isn't a plot… Jack, what if this war ended ten years ago and all we have been doing is wasting our time?!"

Jack frowned deeply at his wife. "Maddie, ghosts are blood-thirsty monsters! They have killed thousands of people! Do you really think they would just give up? Do you really think that they'd leave us alone? Maddie, Dark was _this_ close to enslaving the entire world. If it wasn't for his sudden overthrow-"

"Exactly, Jack! Since then, these creatures have vanished! Maybe this new ghost king…," Maddie sighed, "I don't know, Jack. I really don't know what to think anymore…. I guess I want to make sure we are doing the right thing and not just agitating a dangerous beehive," she said worriedly.

Jack sat next to his wife and wrapped his arm around her frame. "I think we are doing the right thing, Mads. Just think of it this way: Once all this is over, everyone will be safe again; the kids will live in a safer world, a world without these heartless spooks.

Maddie nodded in agreement. "You're right, Jack. I just can't help but worry. If the ghost king gets wind of this…"

"He won't, sweet cheeks! And even if he did, our house is completely surrounded by ghost detecting devices; he wouldn't even make it to the front door without us knowing," he assured with a confident grin.

Maddie smiled, clearly feeling better with his words. "I suppose-"

"Mommy?"

Mother and father looked toward the stairs where their two-year-old daughter stood, wearing pink pajamas and holding a bear with a mustache.

"Jazz? I thought you were asleep, sweetie," Maddie stated, surprise evident in her tone.

"Yeah, I thought I put you in bed?" Jack added, standing up and going towards the little girl.

"I know, daddy, but I didn't say night-night to mommy and Danny!" she answered, raising her hands, so her dad could pick her up.

Maddie smiled warmly as Jack sat back down and then sat Jazz on his lap. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I was about to go up and say good-night to you, but I got a little distracted by some guests that passed by."

The red-haired girl giggled and jumped on her mom's lap, before wrapping her arms around her neck. "It's okay, mommy! I say night-night first today!"

Maddie hugged her back and gave her a kiss on the nose. "Yes, you did," she whispered with a small chuckle. "But it's back to bed for you now; it's past your bedtime," she scolded gently.

Jazz furrowed her eyebrows, "But I have to say night-night to Danny."

"Princess, Danny's asleep," Jack informed her with a smile.

The little girl pouted her lips, her turquoise-colored eyes widening a bit, "Aw, please, mommy? I won't make no noise. Powmise!

Her mother smiled, "Alright, but you have to be very quiet. You know how hard it is for me to get your brother to fall asleep."

Jazz nodded her head enthusiastically and jumped a bit from happiness.

Maddie stood with Jazz in her arms, while Jack followed suit. They all headed upstairs, towards the room of the youngest member of the family.

"Hey, daddy? Can we go to the park tomowo? I wanna go feed the duckies!" Jazz asked, becoming excited at the thought of seeing the small animals.

Her father gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Jazzy-pants, but your mom and I gotta work on something really important tomorrow."

"But we'll take you the day after that, okay?" Maddie added, seeing the look of disappointment on her daughter's face.

Her face instantly brightened and she nodded in agreement.

"But you know what we'll do tomorrow, Princess? Your mom made fudge, so for lunch tomorrow we'll have a whole bucket full of mouth-watering fudge, just the two of us!"

"Jack," the late-twenty-year-old woman said with disapproving look, "You know you can't feed Jazz so much sweet. It'll make her sick."

"Nonsense, Maddie! Jazz is a big girl, arent't ya, Jazzerincess?"

The young child quickly nodded, "Yup! I'm this many!" she answered proudly, putting up two fingers to indicate her age.

"See, she can handle it!" her husband defended, just as they arrived at Danny's room.

"Alright, but only a little, and only after she gets a nutritious lunch," Maddie bargained with a smile.

Jack grinned. "Alright, but I'll have you know fudge is very nutritious! Just look at how muscular and fit I am!" he said, sticking out his chest and placing his hands on his waist.

Jazz giggled. "That's not mucile, daddy! That's fat!" she said, reaching out and poking her dad's belly.

Maddie laughed, while Jack frowned at his daughter, who just giggled some more at his expression.

"Okay, Jazz, don't forget to be real quiet," her mom reminded her.

"No noise, powmise," she whispered, bringing her finger up to her lips.

The three Fentons quietly entered the baby's room.

Jazz smiled down at her brother after her mom lifted her higher so she could look over the railing on the baby crib. Her happiness grew at hearing him coo a bit and lift up his tiny hands towards his head and leave them there.

The little girl leaned down and touched the baby's right hand, which was adorned with a gold bracelet. She touched the small piece of jewelry lightly before giving her sibling a soft kiss on his cheek. "Night-Night, little brother," she whispered.

Jack and Maddie shared a warm smile at the sight. The mother then brought Jazz up towards her and with a soft smile directed at her son, she moved away from the crib, so Danny's father could bid him sweet dreams.

Jack caressed the baby boy's face for a moment, before giving him a kiss on the cheek as Jazz had. "Night, son. See you tomorrow."

With that, Maddie, Jack, and Jazz quietly left Danny's room.

"Okay, Jazzy-pants, time for bed," the black-haired man said, after closing his son's door.

Jazz yawned widely and her turqoise eyes dimmed, showing she had no problem with that.

The young woman placed her daughter in bed and began to tuck her in, but the two-year-old wasn't quite ready for bed just yet.

"Mommy, tell me a story?" the girl asked.

"Jazz, you need to go to sleep," her mom said disapprovingly.

"Just a small one!" she pleaded.

"Alright," Maddie said with a helpless sigh. She then turned her eyes to her husband, who was smiling in amusement. "Jack, could you turn off the lights and make sure everything is… _secure_?"

Jack nodded. He knew that his wife was asking him to turn on the ghost detection devices. "Sure thing, Maddie," he replied. "Good night, princess," the young father then said, leaning down and giving Jazz a kiss on the cheek.

"Wait, daddy! Bear-Bert Einstein wants a kiss too!" his daughter said, thrusting the bear towards him.

Jack grinned. "Oh, yeah, almost forgot him. Although, I still don't know where you came up with that name," he said before kissing the bear on the nose.

"I name him that cause he's a smart bear!" Jazz answered with a wide grin.

"And you're a smart girl!" Jack beamed proudly, " _I_ can't even say Ein-Ein… uh-"

"Einstein!" Jazz exclaimed, sitting up.

"Yeah that," the man mumbled, scratching his head.

"Okay, Jazz, come on. Story time, then bed time," Maddie said, coaxing her to get back into bed.

Jack gave his _girls_ a smile before heading out of the room to do what his wife asked him.

Sitting down on her daughter's bed, the woman asked, "Okay, what would you like?"

Jazz's eyebrows furrowed, while she pondered the question. Her left hand unconsciously played with the gold bracelet that - like her brother- she wore on her right wrist. "Um... Oh, I know! I want a story bout a Prince and he meets a regular girl, and then they fall in love and she becomes a Princess!" she requested excitedly

Maddie tapped her chin, "Hmm… alright, I think I can do that one."

Jazz hugged her bear under the covers as her mom began, "There was once a young prince who lived in a beautiful palace. He had everything he could ever want, but deep inside his heart he knew he was missing something. He didn't know what it was and so he didn't understand what it could be, but he felt it…."

Ten minutes later Jazz had fallen asleep. Maddie carefully stood and fixed her daughter's blankets so that they covered her well. Pushing away a strand of red hair from the little girl's face, she kissed her good-night. The woman then turned off the lamp and made sure Jazz's night light was on, before turning towards the door. But when she did, she found her husband standing in the doorway, watching her.

"Aw, I wanted to hear the end of that story," Jack whispered playfully, but truthfully.

Maddie walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. "You'll have to wait until story time again to hear it," she teased. "Come on, let's get to bed; we have a lot of work to do tomorrow," she said, closing Jazz's door.

Jack wrapped his arm around her frame as they headed to their room. "Sure do!" he agreed.

"Did you set everything?" the woman asked.

He nodded. "Yes, but don't worry so much, Maddie baby, everything will be fine!" he assured her.

Maddie just smiled at Jack. She knew he was right, but she just couldn't shake this feeling within her. A feeling that kept telling her something terrible was going to happen.

* * *

"What did you find out?" a deep and cool voice inquired the two beings that had just entered the room.

"It is as you said. The humans are attempting to gain access," one of them replied in a strong tone.

The owner of the first voice chuckled. "A man-made portal, how foolish."

"But dangerous, my liege. If they are successful, our entire race will be in severe jeopardy," a third male voice replied.

"Luckily, the place is not heavily guarded. Just two ghost hunters. It is obvious they didn't expect us to find out," the other added

After a moment of silence, the entity sitting on the throne stood up and floated over to the other two. "Very well." He looked at them with piercing red eyes before smiling at them and revealing a set of fangs. "Let's put an end to their feeble attempts, shall we?"


	2. Fate's Cruel Hand

Maddie stirred at the sound of her crying son. With a soft sigh, she carefully moved out of her husband's hold, put on her robe, and then quietly left their room.

Upon entering the infant's dormitory, she smiled helplessly. "You know, Danny, it would be nice if you'd let me sleep through a whole night for once."

She picked him up, and his cries quickly subsided into anxious whines. "Are you hungry?" she asked, seeing him nibbling on her robe.

Feeling that it was a bit chilly, Maddie grabbed his blanket and wrapped him with it, before heading downstairs. She placed Danny in an infant rocking-chair, so she could make him his bottle, but he immediately began to cry at seeing his mom move away from him.

"I'm coming, sweetie. Just let me make your bottle," she said, pulling out the baby milk from the fridge. With the efficiency only a mother possessed, Maddie both prepared her restless son's bottle and attempted to calm him by humming and rocking his little chair.

A few minutes later she picked him up before sitting down at a chair. Danny continued to whine as she positioned him in her arms. "Shh… it's coming," she told him, while checking the milk's temperature. Satisfied, she offered the baby his bottle.

Danny instantly calmed down at receiving the warm milk. He eagerly sucked on his bottle, and cooing with content, stared up at his mother.

Maddie smiled in return. Every time she looked into his bright blue eyes, she was overcome with immense happiness. Her son was so special, so perfect.

The woman chuckled to herself, knowing that every mother probably thought that of their own child. "I love you, Danny" she whispered, kissing his hand which was wrapped around one of her fingers.

Maddie frowned at realizing his hand was really cold. She huddled him closer and covered him some more with his blanket. It was then she felt it.

A shiver ran down the young mother's spine when the temperature dropped drastically. Alarmed, Maddie removed the bottle from her son's mouth, causing him to protest loudly. "Shh…" she softly said, slowly standing up, while her eyes darted around her kitchen.

The woman pressed Danny closer to her as the temperature continued to drop, so much that she could now see her breath. "No…," she whispered fearfully, her heart now pounding in her chest.

Maddie moved warily out of the kitchen, her eyes looking in all directions. But then suddenly, the lights went off, and she found herself and the now agitated Danny in pitch darkness.

The mother stood still for a moment, not knowing what to do. But she quickly decided to inch towards the closest means of protection: the lab. She needed to reach the weapons that were there.

"It's okay, baby; please stay quiet," she whispered in Danny's ear, while she felt around for the door. With trembling hands, Maddie opened the door and carefully walked down the small set of stairs that led inside the lab.

Using mostly her memory, she went to the closest lab table. She bent down and quickly hid Danny behind it. "Stay quiet," she gently commanded, covering him up with his blanket, before quickly standing up.

But as she turned around, Maddie let out a loud gasp at finding herself staring into pupil-less, blood-red eyes. She felt her body instantly paralyze with fear, but the thought of her child right behind her quickly pulled her out of her frightened state.

Without looking, Maddie reached behind her and grabbed the first thing she felt on the table and swung it at full strength at the entity in front of her. Unfortunately… her hand went right through its head.

The entity let out a soft chuckle, and from the tone of its voice she knew it was a male. It was then the woman realized that there were three more sets of eyes glowing in the darkness, but these eyes were all luminous green.

Maddie's breath hitched when a bright emerald flame suddenly illuminated the room, finally allowing her to fully see the entities in the room.

"JACK!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The red-eyed entity placed his hands behind his back, calmly watching the young woman as she fled towards a table that had large weapons on it.

"Skulker," he called.

The entity known as Skulker nodded, before turning his eyes to the human. His entire body looked robotic, expect for his green flaming hair and beard. He carried a number of arsenals on his shoulders, making him appear all the more menacing. With an evil grin, he vanished in a blink of an eye from where he once floated.

Maddie quickly reached out towards a gun, but before she could get it, Skulker appeared right behind her and grabbed both her arms.

The woman gasped in pain as her hands were wrenched behind her back. Right after, she was whirled around to face the other creatures again.

She struggled against her captor's hold, but her eyes were towards the red-eyed entity. He was clearly in charge.

He, however, paid her no mind and floated passed her, heading towards the ghost portal. Unlike Skulker, the leader looked more humanoid, but not by much. He looked more like a demon than anything else. His black hair curved up into two spikes, and his blue skin -only visible from his face- made him look like Death itself. But unlike _that_ creature of darkness, this creature of darkness wore white. In fact, he was completely clothed in white, except for a long, white _and_ red cape that fell against his shoulders, and his black gloves and boots.

Maddie's panicked eyes momentarily darted to the other two entities in the room, and noticed that the one that resembled a nine-foot, black wolf was the reason why the room was glowing green. Its large paw held a ball of bright energy that moved about like fire. She also noticed the fifteen-inch long, thick green claws that extended from its paws and cupped the light.

The other entity was just as tall as the wolf-like one, but looked like a medieval knight. Only that, it was nothing like the human version; it was more like something out of a horror movie. It appeared to have no face under its helmet and he had purple fire burning on top of its head and running down his back.

Maddie's eyes went back to the leader of these monsters in time to see his hand suddenly turn transparent and go straight through the portal's control panel.

But then suddenly, the lights turned back on.

The three green-eyed entities looked at each other before looking at their leader.

The red-eyed entity, however, made no sign of being bothered by the occurrence. But his next words made it clear he planned to do something about it.

"Fright Knight, take care of the other human," he ordered calmly.

The Knight pulled out a long, glowing green sword, causing Maddie to struggle more fiercely against Skulker's grip. "Let go of me!" she growled.

Ignoring the human, he responded, "Yes, my king," and then vanished.

* * *

"JACK!"

The sleeping man quickly sat up upon hearing his wife's scream. "Maddie?!" he called, jumping out of bed. His eyes widened the instant he noticed that the house was ice cold. "It can't be," he whispered.

Jack quickly attempted to turn on the light. But it was not working. Now having no doubt in his mind of _what_ was endangering his family, he opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a strange-looking small gun.

The creature or creatures in his house had shut down the power and somehow deactivated the ghost detection devices. But the system could only be shut down from inside… How did they accomplish that without setting a single one off?

The man ran down the stairs as fast as he could in the dark, knowing he had heard Maddie's voice coming from below. He made his way to a metal box on a wall beside the stairs and activated the backup power.

The instant the lights came back on Jack ran towards the lab, but before he could get there Fright Knight appeared in front of him.

"Ghost!" the man exclaimed, firing a green blast from the gun in his hand. The green-eyed entity dodged the attack and flew at him with astounding speed.

"Ahh!" Jack yelled as a fist collided with his face. This reeled him back a few feet, and caused the weapon in his hand to slip out of his hold. The ghost hunter struggled to get his bearings and stand, but before he could, his attacker was upon him.

The man's eyes widened as Fright Knight lifted a large glowing sword with the intention of running him through with it.

"Daddy?" a voice called from the top of the stairs, distracting both males.

Jack, however, reacted before Fright Knight, and quickly grabbed his fallen gun and fired it at the ghost. The entity grunted as the attack slammed him into a wall.

"Jazz!" her father yelled as she ran to him with her bear clutched in her right hand. She clearly had yet to notice the monster a few feet away.

"Daddy, I heard lots of noise and my night light's not working," she whimpered, her eyes filled with fearful tears.

Jack held her tightly against him, while pointing his gun at the recovering Fright Knight. "Princess, listen to me; I need you to leave the house. Go to the neighbor's house, okay?"

"W-Where's mommy?" she asked.

"She's fine; I'll get mommy and Danny, okay? Remember how to call the cops?" he asked gently, trying to mask the fear in his voice.

"9-1-1," she mumbled.

"That's my girl," Jack said with a smile.

Suddenly, her father gasped before he pushed her away from him. Jazz screamed at seeing a large glowing monster slam the back of its sword across her dad's head. "DADDY!" she cried out.

"JAZZ!" came Maddie's own scream from the lab. Clearly, she could hear the commotion occurring.

Jack groaned as he clutched his now bleeding head. But he was given very little time to recover and soon found himself being thrown into a wall by his attacker.

"STOP HURTING MY DADDY!" Jazz shouted, running towards the large being with the intent of defending her dad.

"Jazz! No! Stay away! Get outta here!" Jack shouted, stopping her in her tracks.

Jazz knew her father wanted her to leave the house, but she still hesitated. "Daddy…" she whimpered as she watched her father get lifted by the neck, while the entity attempted to remove the weapon in his hand.

Jack struggled to get his hand on the trigger, but Fright Knight was slowly crushing his windpipe and the depletion of oxygen was making him weaker by the second. But he was determined to protect his family.

The man swung at the entity's face, and stunned his attacker enough to use the gun against him.

The blast threw the ghost away from Jack, who fell to the ground and coughed violently before looking at his daughter, "Jazz… g-go! … RUN! he finally managed to scream out.

The two-year-old was snapped out of her shocked state and took off towards the front door. But the scream also caught Fright Knight's attention. However, he wasn't looking at Jack.

"NO!" Jack cried out, finding the strength to stand up at seeing the entity moving towards Jazz. He threw himself at the ghost and tackled him to the ground. "Leave my daughter alone!"

With a growl, Fright Knight kicked him off just as Jazz opened the door. The creature frowned as he watched the little girl run out of the house. But a sudden blast to his head quickly redirected his attention back to the older human.

Jack took advantage of Fright Knight's stunned state and ran towards the lab to save his wife.

* * *

Maddie's eyes were wide open. "The king?" she whispered with dread. "Y-You're …Plasmius," she growled, her face falling into a glare.

The king smirked at her, before turning his eyes back to the panel and pulling out the cylinder with the glowing liquid inside. "Concentrated ectoplasm" he said, studying the object in his hand intently.

He moved his gaze to Maddie, before approaching her. His eyes suddenly narrowed and glowed fiercely. "Tell me, how many ghosts were destroyed to obtain this?" he hissed.

The women narrowed her eyes as well and hissed back, "Not enough."

Oddly, Plasmius expression changed into amusement at her response. Maddie let out a gasp at seeing the ghost look towards Danny. "If it were your own that could perish, I doubt that would be your response…"

"No! Please!" she pleaded as the king headed towards her child.

Plasmius placed his left hand on the table and it suddenly vanished, leaving the child in full view. "Hmm… how precious," he said, staring down at the cooing Danny.

Maddie felt a wave of strength fill her body, and faster than Skulker could react, she kicked the ghost as hard as she could. The woman cried out in pain at feeling like she had just kicked a steel door away. But she managed to get free and that's all she cared about at the moment.

She quickly grabbed a weapon from the table beside her and fired it at Skulker and then at the wolf-like ghost. Both creatures were slammed into the tables and gadgets behind them as Maddie whirled the gun towards Plasmius and cocked it.

"Get away from my son, you putrid piece of ecto-slime," she growled. "And you two, don't move or you'll be picking up your king's remains," she added, causing the other two ghosts to halt their approach.

Plasmius smiled, revealing a set of fangs. He moved his hand away from the table and it reappeared. "Ah, such talent," he teased, placing the cylinder on top of the table.

He then slowly approached the human, causing her hand to tighten on the weapon, but she didn't fire. And she wouldn't. Not when her child was directly behind him.

Suddenly Maddie heard her husband scream and then her daughter. "JAZZ!" the mother cried in alarm, turning her gaze to the lab's exit for a second.

It was all the king needed.

Plasmius instantly vanished and reappeared behind the woman. Maddie screamed as the gun was forced from her hold and thrown aside. The red-eyed ghost grasped both her hands in one of his, before using the other to firmly hold onto the back of the human's head. "Such talent indeed," he whispered in her ear. "Shame that it's wasted on such an inferior creature," he added darkly, his now exposed fangs lingering just above the nape of her neck.

Unexpectedly, a large blast sounded right outside the lab before the door swung open. "Get away from my wife, spook!" Jack demanded, his gun aimed at the king.

Plasmius' eyes narrowed at the man, while his fangs still hovered above the women's skin.

Maddie gasped when she suddenly felt like she had just been injected with liquid nitrogen, before she was thrown aside and sent crashing to the floor.

"Maddie!" Jack shouted in alarm, sure that the creature had actually bit his wife before letting her go. Without hesitation, he fired a blast at the ghost.

But the king turned intangible causing the attack to pass harmlessly through him and hit the ghost portal's control panel instead. Sparks flew out of the damaged panel and fell on a few beakers of chemicals.

"No!" Maddie shouted, before a small explosion caused the entire lab to shake and a blaring alarm to go off.

And as the alarm screamed out its warning, no one noticed the cylinder containing concentrated ectoplasm jolt with the quick rumble and roll across the table, towards the infant below it.

No one saw it shatter as it hit the metal floor right next to Danny, bathing him in the energized green substance.

No one heard the baby's anguished cries when the glowing liquid bubbled and slowly began to eat away at his clothing.

No one heard his wail become louder when the concentrated ectoplasm finally touched his skin, sending jolt after jolt of hot painful energy into the entire infant's body while it slowly seeped within him.

No one ever noticed.

What everyone did notice was the cabinet that smashed against the portal, ripping pieces of wires and circuitry as it fell over.

" **Ghost Portal severely unstable. Commence emergency evacuation,"** a computerized voice warned.

Maddie wobbled to her feet, but immediately fell back down. Her head was spinning uncontrollably and more than just her neck had gone numb now. "J-Jack!" she called out, but her voice didn't come out above a whisper.

Seeing the ghosts were distracted by the blaring alarm, Jack ran to his wife's side. "Maddie?" he called, grabbing her face and seeing she was barely conscious. "Maddie! Look at me! What's wrong? What did that thing do to you?" he questioned fearfully.

"Jack," she whispered. "The k-kids."

"Shh, it's okay. I told Jazz to go to the neighbor's house. I'll get Danny upstairs and we'll get outta here," he assured her.

The woman attempted to lift her hand so she could point towards her son, but all she did was move her fingers a bit. "N-No… Da-"

"Maddie!" Jack yelled at seeing her eyes roll back and completely lose consciousness.

* * *

Plasmius frowned at hearing the blaring alarm and the warning message. "Skulker, what the blazes is going on?" he asked, turning towards him.

Skulker floated over to the portal and studied it. "It seems the shot activated this contraption, but it is overheating for some reason," he informed.

"If that's the case, than it's time we take our leave," Plasmius replied. Turning to the nine-foot, wolf-looking ghost, he said, _"Wulf, se vi estus sekve speco…"_

In that same strange dialect, Wulf responded, _"Jes, mia reĝo"_

The ghost then brought up one of his large clawed-paw and swung it through the air. A ripping sound could be heard as he did so, leaving behind a glowing green opening.

Skulker gave the two humans a quick glance, and noticed the woman was not moving. "Did you kill the human?" he inquired with an evil grin.

Plasmius looked over at Maddie before turning his attention back to his comrade. "No, I simply sedated her in an attempt to avoid _this_ ," he answered with some annoyance, making a general hand gesture to the chaos around them.

"Then should I kill them both?" he asked, reaching for a sword on his back.

Plasmius grabbed Skulker's hand, stopping him. "We came to destroy the portal; that is all," he answered calmly.

The robotic-looking ghost nodded, but then gasped at seeing a green blast suddenly come towards them and strike the king in the arm.

"My liege!" Fright Knight exclaimed. The ghost growled, pulling out his sword as he began to approach the one responsible.

"What did you do to my wife, ghost?!" Jack demanded, his gun still aimed at Plasmius, although Fright Knight was closing in on him.

" **Danger! Ghost Portal to explode in 60 seconds!"**

Plasmius glared at the man, while he held his injured shoulder that was freely oozing a green substance. "Leave him, Fright Knight. If he has any sense, he'll get his family to safety, instead of wasting time with us."

Fright Knight stared at Jack with murder in his eyes, before reluctantly putting away his sword and heading back to the king and the others.

"Hmm…" Maddie mumbled, turning Jack's attention back to her. He quickly picked up his wife and headed out of the lab as fast as he could. What they had feared was happening. But all Jack cared about was getting his family to safely, before the unstable ghost portal blew.

Reaching a safe distance outside his house, he placed his now semi-conscious wife on the ground, before rushing back inside to get his son.

" **Ghost portal to explode in 20 seconds!"**

Jack barged into Danny's room, going straight to his crib, only to discover he wasn't there. The man's eyes darted around the room in confusion. Where was his son?

" **Ghost portal to explode in 15 seconds!"**

Jack checked every room with a speed never thought possible for even the fittest of men. He checked every place that his son could possibly be in and he still could not find him. "Where is he?!" the father shouted in a panicked voice.

" **10-9-8…"**

"The neighbors… They must have come…,"was all he could conclude.

Jack ran out of the house, finding his wife wobbling towards it. "Maddie, where are you going?! We gotta move!" he exclaimed, picking her up and running away from the house.

"NO! Danny! **He's in the lab!"** she screamed while flaring in his grasp.

Her words instantly froze Jack, a horrified expression appearing on his face. But before he could even turn, the portal exploded, taking within seconds their entire house.

" **DANNY!"** Maddie screamed, her anguish cry louder then the roaring flames.


End file.
